Chapter 105

Candy (1) I moved the airship to a spot some distance away from the Candy Zone rather than directly above it. “They’ll be on guard if an airship suddenly appears. By now, the newbie has probably realized that his zone has the lowest difficulty level.” “Do we really need to change our clothes too?” Han Yeoreum grumbled as she took off her pure-white military uniform, changed into casual clothes, and put a coat over them. “I feel uncomfortable wearing anything but a uniform now. It’s cold too.” “Would you just stand there calmly if an outsider in a military uniform came striding into your zone?” “Ugh, I hate this shirt. It clings to me. Don’t you have anything else?” “You can go in naked if you don’t like it. I wasn’t exactly eager to lend it to you either.” Peter Parker, whose casual clothes we had extorted from him, glared briefly at Han Yeoreum before speaking. “But she has a point. Why bother changing clothes? With your ability, you could just descend like some kind of god and abduct the newbie.” As expected of a shameless plagiarist, he did not seem to have the slightest intention of showing consideration for the newbie. Han Yeoreum appeared to be thinking the same thing as me and clicked her tongue. “It’s because of people like you that Safe Zone became a dead game populated only by veterans! You slaughtered every newbie who joined!” “Thanks to that, they weren’t transported into this game. It was good for them.” “What? Were you one of the people who wanted to return to reality?” “Isn’t that obvious? Who would want to remain in a world that’s about to be destroyed? Unless they were an extreme social outcast, I imagine most people would want to escape a world like this.” “……” “……” While the social outcasts fell silent, Luna suddenly popped out of the jewel, climbed onto my head, and angrily shouted at Mickey Parker. [What do you mean, “a world like this”?! Apologize to someone who lives in this world!] “Holy cat. What the hell is that?” Judging from Mickey Parker’s reaction, Dopamine Addict apparently had not told him about Luna. Had Dopamine Addict chosen not to mention the brother inside the ring? I had no obligation to explain either, so I simply answered: “My brother.” “Your brother? …Haydam said you dragged around a lot of strange things. He wasn’t kidding.” He must have had very little to do in the Unicorn Zone. Otherwise, why would he have told Mickey Parker even such trivial details? Come to think of it, I also needed to ask how that bastard had obtained his ability… but with Han Yeoreum and Taejeong here, it was difficult to bring up right now. His ability belonged to a monster that only appeared after the Second Apocalypse. Explaining it might eventually lead to the fact that the Dopamine Addict in the Unicorn Zone had “regressed.” Just then, Taejeong returned after going off to change, looking awkward. He was still wearing the same pure-white military uniform as before. “What? Why are you still dressed like that?” When Han Yeoreum asked, Taejeong replied quietly. “The shirt wouldn’t button up.” As though he had at least tried to put it on, he held out the now-stretched and ragged shirt. [Poor shirt…] Well, considering Taejeong’s size, it was perfectly understandable. “Then Taejeong can stay here with that pilot bastard.” “What?! With… him?” Rather than criticizing him by asking whether the residents of the Candy Zone wouldn’t feel threatened if someone of his size approached them in a military uniform, I glanced at Mickey Parker and said: “How could I take that bastard with us when there’s no telling what he might do? Someone needs to stay behind and watch him.” “Ah… If that’s the reason, I’ll stay.” Was it really that uncomfortable for him? I had heard that Mickey Parker had helped Taejeong a great deal during difficult times, so I had thought Taejeong might be happy to meet him. Yet they apparently did not know each other at all. It might have felt less awkward if Mickey Parker had been a complete stranger. Instead, he was using the in-game nickname of Taejeong’s friend, which seemed to make Taejeong feel even more uneasy. Still, I would have to watch them a little longer before deciding whether they truly did not know each other. “You don’t have any complaints about staying behind either, do you?” “Of course not. I have no intention of getting involved in a newbie guide, Little Darth Vader.” …Was he mocking me by calling me a dictator? “What the hell?! Why am I the only one who has to go down there wearing this awful shirt? I have terrible social skills! How am I supposed to be useful?!” As always, Han Yeoreum was objectively assessing herself. However, she should have been able to understand why I was taking her with me just by looking in a mirror. Even outside the Love Zone, a society where appearance was everything, Han Yeoreum’s looks would be effective anywhere. In other words, her face was the perfect tool for lowering NPCs’ guard. Even a shut-in social misfit had her uses. [What about me?] “You can come too… but you have to stay in your cat form. If you pop out of the ring, they’ll think you’re a monster and become wary of us. You’ll also have to communicate through telepathy. Can you behave like an ordinary cat?” [No problem! This is exciting!] Luna bounced excitedly before diving into the pocket of my coat, leaving only her face poking out. I scratched the top of her head with the tip of my index finger, then opened the airship door and stepped outside. Now, then… Shall we go meet the newbie? *** After leaving the airship, Han Yeoreum and I walked across the snowy plain for roughly thirty minutes before reaching the outskirts of the Christmas Forest, where the Candy Zone was located. The Christmas Forest was an immense cluster of fir trees stretching endlessly into the distance. I had not been able to appreciate their size from afar, but up close, the Christmas trees were so enormous that I could not see their tops even when I bent my head all the way back. The forest shone a vivid green amid the completely white snowfield. It was a beautiful color that could never be seen in the Cola Zone. However, I could not simply admire the scenery. There was something inexplicably eerie about the silent forest. Perhaps it was because there were no birds singing despite this being a forest. Once the Second Apocalypse arrived and flying monsters settled here, we might hear something resembling birdsong, but that would be disturbing in its own way. “It’s warm here.” Han Yeoreum, who had followed me into the forest, finally loosened the collar she had wrapped tightly around herself, looking as though she could breathe again. “What do we do now?” “What do you mean?” “We’ve come all this way, so you’re obviously going to scam him again. What do I need to do to prepare for it?” What did this bastard think I was? “Do you really think I’d scam a newbie?” “You’re going to…” [You obviously are.] Even Luna… But I genuinely had no intention of scamming the newbie. “The newbie, Dentist, is intelligent and highly cautious.” “Oh, right. You said he was an actual dentist?” “If we try to deceive someone like that and get caught, it’ll be difficult to regain his trust. He’ll cooperate with logging out anyway, so telling him only the truth should be enough.” “But you want to bring him back to our zone entirely. Do you really think the newbie will obediently follow us?” “Fortunately or unfortunately, the newbie never played Safe Zone, so he has no preconceived notions about me.” “So you admit that anyone who played Safe Zone would inevitably be prejudiced against you.” “And the newbie seems to be a kindhearted person. Which means…” “If we explain things properly, he’ll understand us?” “We’ll appeal to his kindness and make it so he has no choice but to follow us.” “…How is that different from scamming him?” [Until now, you only went after bad people. You’ve completely fallen into depravity…] They were already treating me like a villain when they did not even know what I planned to offer Dentist. Well, they could think whatever they wanted. All that mattered was bringing the newbie with me. Just then— “……!” Luna suddenly stretched her head farther out of my pocket, pricked up her ears, and stared beyond the forest. “What is it, Luna?” [There’s something over there.] “Something?” Han Yeoreum and I exchanged a glance before simultaneously heading in that direction. The closer we moved toward where Luna was looking, the more clearly we heard something resembling static. With only her head sticking out of my coat pocket, Luna said: [I think someone’s fighting.] “Who?” [I don’t know. But I can sense a jewel too.] If she could sense a jewel, that meant there was a monster ahead. Were residents of the Candy Zone hunting monsters nearby? After walking a little farther, Han Yeoreum and I clearly heard what sounded like a monster’s roar mixed with shouting. “Aaagh!” It was unmistakably a human scream. Without either of us needing to say anything, Han Yeoreum and I began running toward it. The voices grew clearer as we approached. “Saint!” “I’ll hold it back! Everyone else, return to the village!” “No, Saint! It’s too dangerous!” ‘Saint!’ The only person called a saint in the Candy Zone was the player. I had seen Dentist earn the title Saint of the Christmas Forest in the highlight footage, so the person ahead was undoubtedly my newbie. We rushed toward the voices, and beyond the cluster of fir trees, I saw several people moving frantically across an open snowfield. The first thing I noticed was an NPC lying on the ground and groaning in pain, as though they had been struck and sent flying by a monster, along with two residents running toward them. Broken bows and arrows were scattered chaotically across the snow. Dentist was beyond them. A gigantic white One-Horned Jaguar had its jaws clamped around his shoulder. ‘Why is that all the way over here?’ An adult One-Horned Jaguar was classified as a large-class monster. But this was the Candy Zone. Since this was a zone that could practically be cleared just by breathing, large-class monsters rarely appeared here. Yet a large-class monster had wandered all the way to the vicinity of the Christmas Forest. Was something happening in this region too? Well, now was not the time to investigate. My precious newbie was moments away from having his entire shoulder eaten. ‘Inspect Character.’ [Name: Dentist Title: Saint of the Christmas Forest Affiliated Zone: Candy *Player Dentist has sent you a friend request. Would you like to accept it?] After confirming that he was indeed my newbie, I spoke to Han Yeoreum. “Han Yeoreum, go to the NPCs.” “Roger.” Han Yeoreum changed direction and ran toward the NPCs, while I approached the monster and gathered a thunderstorm overhead. Rumble… The One-Horned Jaguar appeared to sense that something was wrong in the violently churning sky, and I saw its grip loosen around Dentist’s shoulder. I did not miss the opportunity. I called down lightning directly in front of the jaguar’s paws. Boom! Boom! “Kyaaargh!” Startled by the two consecutive lightning strikes, the jaguar hurriedly released Dentist’s shoulder. I pulled a firearm from my inventory and aimed it at the creature. “Get down.” Whether he had heard my warning or simply lacked the strength to remain standing after being injured, Dentist collapsed weakly onto the snow. Thump! Crack! The bullet fired with a heavy report, grazing past Dentist’s head before smashing apart the horn protruding from the center of the One-Horned Jaguar’s forehead. “Graaaagh!” The One-Horned Jaguar let out a pained roar and thrashed its head violently. However, every time it shook its head, the jewel that had been concealed beneath its shattered horn gleamed clearly. Even shaking its head like that was a defensive instinct. It knew that hitting such a small jewel with an arrow or bullet would be difficult. ‘However…’ That posed no obstacle to me. I lowered the gun in my hand and took out a coin.